Cherie Dimaline () is an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

writer from the Georgian Bay Métis Nation, a part of

Métis Nation of Ontario The Métis Nation of Ontario (MNO) is an organization for people who self-identify as Métis in Ontario. It consists of representatives at the provincial and local levels. History of mixed Indigenous and European people in Ontario Mixed Indi ...

. She has written a variety of award-winning novels and other acclaimed stories and articles. She is most noted for her 2017

young adult novel Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...

The Marrow Thieves ''The Marrow Thieves'' is a young adult dystopian novel by Métis Canadian writer Cherie Dimaline, published on September 1, 2017, by Cormorant Books through its Dancing Cat Books imprint. Plot After climate change decimates the existing ...

'', which explores the continued colonial exploitation of Indigenous people. In addition to ''The Marrow Thieves'', Dimaline has won the award for Fiction Book of the Year at the Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival for her first novel, Red Rooms. She has since published the short stories "Seven Gifts for Cedar", the novel The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy, and the short story collection A Gentle Habit. She is the 2019 editor of Little Bird Stories (Volume IX), published by Invisible Publishing and featuring winners of the annual Little Bird Writing Contest run by Sarah Selecky Writing School. She was founding editor of ''

Muskrat Magazine ''Muskrat Magazine'' is an online Indigenous literary, art, and culture publication, published in Toronto. It includes profiles of Indigenous peoples engaged in the arts including literature, film, music, and visual and performing arts. The publ ...

'', was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier's Awards for Excellence in Arts in 2014, and became the first Aboriginal

writer in residence Artist-in-residence, or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs which involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs which provide artists with space a ...

for the

Toronto Public Library Toronto Public Library (TPL) (french: Bibliothèque publique de Toronto) is a public library system in Toronto, Ontario. It is the largest public library system in Canada, and in 2008 had averaged a higher circulation per capita than any other pu ...

."Q & A with North York library's writer-in-residence Cherie Dimaline"
'' InsideToronto.com'', June 8, 2015. Her latest novel, '' Empire of Wild'', was published in 2019.

Biography

Dimaline was originally a resident of a

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

community in the

Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...

area. She now resides in the city of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. Her childhood summers were spent back in her Métis community. During the time spent back home, Dimaline learned stories from her family that she was then able to pass onto her cousins. Her father is a magician, and growing up she worked for him as a magician's assistant. From then on, Dimaline worked a variety of jobs, being employed as a curator for a museum, high-level manager for an investment company, and a director of a women's resource center. In addition to her own authorship, Dimaline has contributed to a variety of projects including the anthology ''Mitêwâcimowina: Indigenous Science Fiction and Speculative Storytelling'' published in 2016. Dimaline was also a columnist and editor for Chatelaine magazine in the early 2000s, writing a variety of articles for the magazine. Dimalaine considers herself exclusively a Métis or

writer, saying "I would love to be recognized as a writer of Indigenous stories. I'm not a

writer. This is what is now known as Canada; it means something different to and for me.""Cherie Dimaline: 'My community is where my stories come from and it's also where my responsibilities lie'"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', June 30, 2017.

Community involvement

Dimaline has participated in numerous literary festivals, including Kingston WritersFest (2016), Toronto International Festival of Authors (2016, 2018, 2019), Ottawa Writers Festival (2017, 2018, 2019), and Wordfest Imaginairium (2019). She will also be a featured author at the Vancouver Writers Festival in 2020, as well as being the festival's inaugural Guest Curator. Dimaline is the founder and organizer of the annual Indigenous Writers' Gathering, as well as the founding editor of FNV Magazine and Muskrat Magazine, two Indigenous-focussed publications.

Books

*''Seven Gifts for Cedar'' (2010) *''Red Rooms'' (2007) *''The Girl Who Grew a Galaxy'' (2013) *''A Gentle Habit'' (2015) *''

'' (2017) *''Empire of Wild'' (2019) *''Little Bird Stories, Volume 9'' (2019) *''Hunting by Stars'' (2021)

Awards

In 2014 Dimaline was named the Emerging Artist of the Year at the Ontario Premier's Awards for Excellence in the Arts. ''The Marrow Thieves'' has earned Dimaline a number of literary awards; for an extensive list see, The Marrow Thieves, Awards. It won the

Governor General's Award for English-language children's literature The Governor General's Award for English-language children's writing is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a children's book written in English. It is one of four children's book awards among the Governor Gen ...

at the

2017 Governor General's Awards The shortlisted nominees for the 2017 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 4, 2017,

and the 2017

Kirkus Prize The Kirkus Prize is an American literary award conferred by the book review magazine '' Kirkus Reviews''. Established in 2014, the Kirkus Prize bestows annually. Three authors are awarded each, divided into three categories: Fiction, Nonfiction ...

in the young adult literature category, and it was a finalist in the CBC's 2018

Canada Reads ''Canada Reads'' is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC. The program has aired in two distinct editions, the English-language ''Canada Reads'' on CBC Radio One, and the Frenc ...

competition and the 2018

White Pine Award The ''White Pine Award'' is one of the annual literature Forest of Reading awards sponsored by the Ontario Library Association (OLA). Every year, 10 books are nominated for the award and students vote their favourite book. The White Pine Nonfi ...

. Notably, Dimaline's acceptance speech for the 2017 Governor General's Award for English Young Adult Fiction was delivered by her friend, the artist Susan Blight in

Anishinaabemowin Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous language o ...

. Dimaline said about the event, "I wrote the speech and she

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

delivered it without translation…" This was the first time an acceptance speech for the Governor General's Award had been delivered in a language other than English or French. ''Empire of Wild'' is Dimaline's newest novel. Dimaline was the 2021 recipient of the

Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award The Writers' Trust Engel/Findley Award is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to an established Canadian author to honour their body of work. Presented for the first time in 2008 under the name Notable Author Awar ...

Reception

'' has been widely acclaimed for its portrayal of Indigenous colonization and ecological devastation. The book has been lauded for its ability to crossover from YA fiction to adult fiction, especially as it was defended by Jully Black as a finalist in the 2018 Canada Reads competition. Dimaline's novels have also been discussed in academia, notably by Niranjana Iyer and Petra Fachinger.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimaline, Cherie 1975 births 21st-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian short story writers Canadian women novelists Canadian women short story writers Canadian science fiction writers Canadian writers of young adult literature Governor General's Award-winning children's writers Métis writers Writers from Toronto Women science fiction and fantasy writers Living people 21st-century Canadian women writers Kirkus Prize winners